Mental illness is something many people live and cope with but rarely openly discuss. On average, about 43 million Americans have some form of treatable mental illness ranging from depression, to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Unfortunately, 12 million adults are misdiagnosed each year in a mental health setting.
So, it’s not uncommon when people like author, mental health advocate and survivor, Agyei Ekundayo, or AJ Mental as she’s more affectionately known, also report being given five diagnoses including depression and bipolar disorder, more than 13 medications and has interfaced with about 10 different specialists during the course of her initial struggle with mental illness. She recounts struggling through the maze of misdiagnosis in her 2014 jarring memoir, Hindsight is 20/20: How An African American Girl Grows Up Mentally Ill and Is Dead Last To Find Out.
My question is: why is accurately diagnosing someone so seemingly tenuous?